SakuraxSasori
by Tally Mai-chan
Summary: SakuraxSasori,SasorixSakura drabbles and one-shots. Anything and everything from Cannon to AU. Dark and mature to cute and funny. Rating may change for chapters depending on content.
1. Masquerade Through Space

SakuraxSasori One-shots and drabbles

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**Masquerade Through Space**

Captain Akasuna sat in his high backed chair, his crew placed around him in the half circle of the control room of his ship, _The Masquerade_. He ordered for the jet thrusters to be put to half power and for an assistant to bring him a coffee. Black, no sugar.

"How long until we reach the planet." He asked his navigator. The pink haired girl paused only for a moment before answering.

"Going at our current speed and considering that there is no outside interference we should reach the planet in two, three hours."

"Give me an exact number Navigator Haruno."

"Ah, um... two hours and... thirty-two minutes... sir"

He nodded. Haruno Sakura was his new navigator. The old one died in an attack on his last mission. He was glad to lose the old navigator but this new girl command gave him. She concerned him.

The girl went back to work, her fingers moving from screen to screen, mapping out their course to archive utmost proficiency in time. She worked fast and hard, her eyes never leaving the five screens floating around her.

Captain Akasuna knew she was good at what she did. Best of her class. Recommended to him by his commanding officer. But she had no real mission experience. He prayed they encountered no trouble.

"Captain." His ship technician called out, swiveling in his small chair to face him. "I'm seeing abnormalities in the ships hull."

"Explain Uchiha."

The technician brushed a lock of black hair behind his eyes and pulled up a screen for the captain to look at. "It seems as if the hull was struck by some small object, not picked up by radar, and it caused some sort of domino affect. I can't tell from the scanner readings what is happening exactly but it happened almost instantaneous."

"Damn." Captain Akasuna cursed under his breath. To his crew he ordered. "Halt all engines and come to complete stop. Uchiha Itachi, you and five others of your pick, go out and fix the hull. Find out what happened and report it back here- Navigator."

"Yes, sir." The girl sat up in her seat quickly, shaking from nerves.

"Watch the radar and try to find a new course to make up time. I don't want to keep command waiting."

The control center whipped into action as Itachi jumped from his seat and ran through two sliding doors. The inner ship monitor personel flipped their screens to cheek all other ship functions and some worked to get the space suits activated for the repair team.

Sakura felt her stomach flip when the Captain spoke to her. She dared not to glance back at him, seating his his chair, a scowl on his face but she couldn't help herself.

"Do you need something Navigator Haruno." Captain Akasuna caught her gaze.

"N-no sir." Said Sakura quickly.

"Then look at your screens and not me."

She blushed and turned away from him. Her eyes looked from the radar to the interstellar map projected onto a screen by her hand. She felt flush with embarrassment. She liked the Captain. It was really the only reason why she chose to become this ships new navigator.

The academy she studied at specialized in planet based navigation but she worked hard so she could navigate for a ship. His ship.

A red dot slid across the radars edge. Sakura's eyes caught it just as it vanished out of range. It happened so fast that she hardly believed it was there. It was her mind playing tricks on her. Her nerves making her see things.

She looked back at the map and debated over two possible courses that could get them to home planet faster.

The radar bleeped.

Sakura heard the bleep but did not see a red dot on screen. Looking hard at the screen for several seconds she dismissed it as her nerves acting up again. Suddenly, red dots, all around the edge of the screen, suddenly came into range. Stunned she watched as the dots came closer, the radar bleeping like mad.

"E-enemy space craft!" She shouted, standing up. "Enemy space craft surrounding us on all sides!"

The sound of glass shattering broke Sakura's nerves. Captain Akasuna had smashed the small class case on the arm of his chair,the alarm signal. Sirens buzzed and red lights flashed. The control room grew dark, lit up by only the screen monitors.

Then, one moment of silence and the next the control room was filled with shouts and orders from the Captain. Two fighter ships were ordered to be armed and sent out. A repair ship to rescue the repairmen out on the hull and lastly, for Sakrua to navigate the ship through gun fie.

Sakura mechanically pressed the buttons on the screen, and a a glowing blue glass disk rose up from the floor, stopping just above her lap. She pressed both hands flat on it.

Gears shifted and clicked into place as the floor ejected from its dock and rotated around. Sakura moved from the farthest to the right to the center edge of the room. Captain Akasuna in his captains chair just behind her.

"You've done this before right?" The Captain asked her as a tall screen popped up in a circle around her. Giving her a 360 degree view of space around them.

"In simulators, yes."

Captain Akasuna frowned. "There's a difference between simulators and reality."

"I am thankful for this chance to learn." Said Sakura stiffly, sounding rude when it was her intention to sound calm.

Captain huffed. "With an attitude like that you better not get a single scrape on his ship."

"Yes, sir."

Sakura knew the controls, and the ship used in the simulator was very similar to this one. She pushed her left hand half an inch forward on the glowing glass disk. The ship moaned as it turned into a shallow left turn. She pushed both hands forward and the ship's nose tipped down. Pulled her hands back and the nose lifted up.

The bleeps on the radar grew steadily closer together, the enemy honing in on them. Captain Akasuna said they were space pirates.

Just as she was done fine tuning the controls the technician Itachi ran in, panting. "All people sent out to fix the hull are safely inside sir." He saluted the captain.

"What was the cause." The Captain asked.

"We still aren't sure, alien technology by Kakuzu's guess."

Captain Akasuna nodded and pressed several buttons on the arm rest of his chair. Two screens flipped up into the air. The two screens showing the fighter ship pilots. "Fighter Deidara and Hidan. Are you ready?"

The blond fighter Deidara smirked, showing up his hand palm first. A symbol of a open mouth, it's tongue sticking out was clearly visible. "I'm marked Master Sasori." He smiled. "I'm always ready for action.

The purple haired man was shown praying on his screen. A orange and red beaded rosary in his hand. "May jashin-sama smite all who get in the way of his followers and send them all to hell." He said, more in prayer than anything.

"Attack the moment the enemy boogies are in range." Ordered Captain Akasuna. "We're counting on you Navigator Haruno."

"I'm starting." Sakrua said. As habit from working in the simulators. No one laughed at her unnecessary outburst. From all directions on the Sakura's circle screen, sleek maroon ships darted in and out of each other in tight loops and weaves. They circled in on them and started firing.

Sakura pushed back hard and the ship turned upward by the nose until it was almost vertical. Pressing hard on the glass disk the ship speed up. The enemy boogie ships matched her. Her confidence boosted when their maroon hulls would suddenly burst in light and fire.

Their two fighter ships attacking from below. Sakura pressed down hard with her left hand and eased up on her right, pushing it forward. The ship suddenly pivoted on its side into a hard turn. She centered her hands on the disk and pressed down.

The enemy's ships rocketed past them and before they could turn around to catch up Deidara and Hidan picked off over half before the enemy concentrated fire on them forced them into retreat.

Deidara's screen popped up to her right.

"Nice flying there ace." He smiled at her. She nodded her head but kept her eyes pinned on the screen.

The remaining ships lined up, one behind the other into two rows. Weaving in and out of each row they proved almost impossible to hit for the two fighter ships. Sakura waited until they caught up before sliding both hands down. The nose tipped up and the enemy, remembering this maneuver before went a step ahead and rose before her.

Sakura cut back on speed and turned hard to the left and banked the ship around them and up. Bringing her close to them but out of they way of their lasers. She turned again, forcing her ship between theirs and split their ranks.

The enemy, unorganized and panicked, were easy targets for Deidara and Hidan as they shot down an entire row before the remaining five ships split up, all flying in separate ways. They fired upon Sakura from all directions. Nimbly avoiding Deidara and Hidan's shots.

"Theses bitches are getting on my nerves." Hidan remarked from his screen as it popped up next to Captain Akasuna.

"Take us down Sakura and fast." Ordered the Captain. "Hidan follow us down. Deidara distract them.

Sakura did as she was ordered and Deidara's screen vanished from beside her, then appeared next to the Captain.

"You're not going to use 'it' are you Master Sasori, un?"

"Yes." Answered the Captain nonchalantly.

Deidara's eyes widened but he followed his orders.

Just as Sakura started to wonder what 'it' was a laser hit her engine. With on on full power and the other gone the ship turned violently to the left and, unprepared, Sakura was thrown from her seat with everyone else.

Captain Akasuna managed to stay in his seat but barely. "Get back in control!" He yelled at her.

Sakura scrambled back to her seat.

"I'm activating the emergency engine and sending half the power from the remaining thruster to it." Said Itachi, his fingers franticly moving from screen to screen as he worked through the ship commands. Sakura thanked him and jumped back onto her controls.

The enemy ships were on their tail. Kept at bay by Deidara but not for long. Sakura saw Hidan's ship flying along side them, matching his pace to theirs. She couldn't see his face through the tinted glass of the cockpit.

Sasori ordered for Deidara to retreat and the blonds ship speed of to the right. Sasori gave the command for 'it' to be used and Hidan's ship hung motionless in zero gravity for half a second before spinning in place and face up to the enemies ships. A charged ball of blue energy shot out from his laser cannon and, to Sakura, missed the enemies ships behind them.

But before she could wonder if 'it' worked or not she was distracted by something more pressing. "Asteroid approaching the nose!" She had missed the new bleeps of the radar. A green mass showing two hundred yards from their current location. The Asteroid was on the screen and approaching fast, and twice the size of their ship.

"There's no way we could miss that." Sasori hissed, slamming his fist on his chair. Sakura heard him but she didn't believe him.

"Uchiha-san!" She shouted, her brain calculating her plan. "Put half force into the remaining thruster then on my command send it to the left side-axle thrusters."

"Y-es" Came Itachi's hesitant reply. He looked to Captain Akasuna and his Captain nodded. He started work on the truster.

Sakura turned the ship to the left.

"We can't clear it by turning." Captain Akasuna said slowly.

"We're not going to clear it." Sakura responded.

When the asteroid was almost on them, and the ship almost parallel to it Sakura gave the signal to Itachi. The side thrusters burst into life and the ship rolled on to it's side.

The asteroid collided with them. Pushing the ship through the remainder of its turn and speed past. The ship spun out of control for one, intense minute until Itachi, somehow, miraculously activated the right side-axle thrusters and the ship balanced out.

They hung their in space, everyone dizzy or nauseous. Sakura was nauseous. She slid out of her seat and vomited onto the floor, coughing and hacking bile. She felt sick to her stomach but she knew one thing. She had saved them from the pirates, and the collision. She had done the impossible.

Then everyone was clapping. She looked up and saw everyone group around her, patting her on the back and shouting praises to her. Only Captain Akasuna and technician Itachi were excluded from this group. Standing silently in one corner of the control room.

Her eyes met her Captains and for the first time he smiled at her.

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Tally Mai's thoughts: This one-shot was really fun to write. I've never written sci-fi before and at first I was hesitant but eventually, as I found my voice and started a flow it came out very naturally. I think this story is a fun way to start off this drabble, one-shot collection.

Has anyone ever written a SakuraxSasori sci-fi fanfic before? I know I havn't seen any. Maybe I'm the first, but I doubt that, haha.

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**Coffee Shop of Romance.**

Sakura had his order ready before he even said it. One black coffee, no sugar and one apple danish with caramel cream on top, and one dab of whip cream.

"Here you are sir." She smiled warmly as she handed him his order.

"Good service." He said blandly, but she knew she had his approval.

He was a very difficult person after all. Almost impossible to read or understand unless you knew him for a long time.

"Do you get off work soon?" He asked.

"In ten minutes. I know you don't like to wait so you can leave if you want."

He nodded and turned so the next customer could come up and order. He only stayed when she was already on her break or her break was just about to start. If he had to wait he would leave. She had learned very quickly that he was not a person to be kept waiting, but, on the flip side, he did not want to keep others waiting on him.

To her surprise he sat down at their table and pulled out a newspaper from his bag.

She worked quickly after that, asking her manager if she could start her break early. He said she could and she pulled her tan smock off and took her seat across from him.

"It's been two years." He said as she sat down.

Sakura thought back, surprised it had really been that long. "So it has." She said almost dreamily.

"My art has been selling. More and more people have been enlighten to it." He smiled. "I've been able to do more work with all the money coming in. I finally moved out of that horrible apartment and into something more appropriate to my tastes."

"My manager is talking about giving me a promotion to manager at another store." She informed him. They always talked about their jobs. Nothing else.

"I think you'll do fine." He told her, finishing his coffee and picked up a fork to eat his danish. "You have very good memory."

She smiled. "Yeah but that's all I really have going for me. The supervisor doesn't think I'm good for the job because I lack communication skills."

"It's a very important skill to have these days." He said absentmindedly.

"Makes me wish I was an artist. But I lack that creative muse... and talent" She laughed, thinking about her best artwork. A stick figure. She'd shown him her art, once before when he didn't believe she had no artistic talent. He never doubted anything she said after that.

"It's not that easy." He said. He took his last bite of his danish and whipped his mouth. "Goodbye then." He said and left.

The next day, Sakura wasn't there to give him his coffee and danish.

Sasori tried not to worry that she was gone from the coffee shop the next day. Another girl, one with long midnight hair and pale lilac eyes filled out his order but she stuttered whenever she spoke and her hands shook a lot, spilling coffee from the mug as she handed it to him.

He asked the manager what happened to her.

"She was fired." The manager told him. "She took money from the register, lied about it and was caught with the money."

Sasori thanked the manager and left. He went to his gallery where his art would be auctioned off but today it irritated him. He lost all patience with his clients questions and eventually locked himself inside his studio. Making his assistant Deidara deal with the clients.

In his studio he opened the window and jumped down to the second floor patio that stretched out over the road. From their he walked around to the side of the building and slid down the steel water drain. Then ran down the backstreets until he was five or so blocks away.

He figured he had two or three hours until Deidara notices his absence and called for the police. It wouldn't have been the first time he had done this.

Sasori walked through the downtown area mindlessly. He did not worry about being attacked. If anything he worried the person that dared to attack him. He rounded a corner when he suddenly stepped back.

Sakura walked past him and across the street, her head hung. There was a dark shadow across her cheek and when he looked closely he saw that it wasn't a shadow at all.

On a whim he followed her. She walked fast, darting past shady alleys and not making eye contact with anyone. When she walked inside an old worn down apartment building he followed her in.

He nearly swore when he almost crashed into her at the front door, and thanked whatever thing distracted her mind from noticing him. She bee-lined to a thin stair case and walked up it slowly, her steps heavy. He waited several moments before carefully following. After the second floor the stairs circled around, a door on each new floor leading off to a hallway.

After going up five floors she walked through the door and he waited several moments before following. The hall split two ways, going off to the left and right and he saw her at the far end of the right hall. Paused before a white door.

He boldly approached her now. Something telling him she already knew he was there.

Then she started crying.

He walked up beside her and put his hand on her shoulder. She jumped up and circled her arms around his neck, burring her face into his shoulder. He patted her soothingly on the back.

"I know you didn't take that money." He told her.

She sniffed, wiping her nose on the back on her hand and stepped back. "I did take that money Sasori." She whimpered. The ugly bruise that marred her face more prominent than ever. "I took that money. And I lied about taking it. I've been doing it for two years. But yesterday, someone saw me. And ratted me out." Her eye puffed out, red and miserable as she started to bawl again. "You hate me don't you? I've done nothing but lie to you!"

He stared grimly down at her. "A lie huh?" He frowned. "So your dreams of wanting to be a nurse. All that was a lie too?"

"That wasn't a lie!" Sakura shouted desperately. "I didn't lie about that! I really do want to be a nurse. Please... believe me." She reached out to touch his arm but he pulled away.

"Is that a lie too? Are you just going to keep on lieing to me?"

His words hurt her deep in her heart.

"I'll never... earn your trust again... will I..." she sniffed, falling to the floor. "I'm a horrible person. Lieing... to the one friend I ever had. Yes I lied to you but I had no choice! If I told you the truth then-"

"Then I was never your friend." He glared at her, his brown eyes angry.

"I... I..."

She closed her eyes and curled up into a ball. Laying motionless on the ground. She wallowed in her own self pity until she was sure he had left her. And she knew he was never coming back.

She sat up and when she opened her eyes she saw him there. With her.

"Now tell me." He said slowly, his voice calm and gentle. "Tell me the truth."

She felt horrible for deceiving him but she what she also felt now made all that vanish. He forgave her, her who was never forgiven for anything.

She felt Love.

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Tally Mai's thoughts: I got the idea for this one while writing the first one-shot. (don't' ask me how, it just happens.) I got different ideas for it but none of them happened, haha. The story unfolded it's self as it was created. I had the idea that Sakura took the blame for a friend that had taken the money and another idea that I had was that Sakura was fired for some reason and started work at Sasori's new apartment.

This one is a bit more serious than the last, and I'll definitely have a few dark drabbles or one-shots somewhere in here. But I'll try to do a little of those cute ones too. For balance and such.

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**I meet you in my Daymares. Now I see you in my Nightdreams.**

Sakura ran through darkness, her path lit by the glow of a red moon. He was chasing her. She saw him only for a moment but she knew who he was. She was helpless. She was weak. She couldn't fight him and she couldn't run away.

The path stretched endlessly before her and he was catching up to her. His steps faster and more powerful than hers.

The path ended and she was in that place. The place where her nightmare started. She tripped on a rock and fell, her hands catching her fall. The ground oozed blood from its cracks and soaked her in red. She started to cry and he was behind her. The moon casting his shadow over her.

She watched in horror has his arm raised. A wide, long carving knife clutched in his hands.

She screamed and sat up, her warm pink comforter suddenly too warm. She kicked her blanket off, rolling out of her bed and on to the floor.

She wandered into the bathroom, splashing cold water into her face. She looked up into her mirror. Looking for the blood that soaked her in her dreams. She saw nothing but pale skin and dull green eyes with ugly purple bags under them.

She opened the medicine cabinet and found her painkiller. It was for night time pain and had sleep agents in it. All thought of safely left her. There was only a need to escape the puppet man that haunted her dreams. She swallowed half of the pills in the small bottle and curled up in her bathtub.

She grabbed a kunai from underneath the sink and held it close to her body. The steel would do nothing to the puppet man but it made her feel safer.

If only a little bit.

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Tally Mai's thoughts: Wanted to do a horror type thing here. Wanted something dark and scary. I think I need to work on my horror writing. It would probably help if I had a tolerance for the horror genre. An okay drabble in my opinion.

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**May I read your palm?**

Sasori sat in the plump cushion, the excessive, soft fabric, fluffed up around him. He raised an eyebrow to the the girl that herded him into her gaudy colored tent, gold beads and clear crystals strung all around its outside.

He was glad that the inside was not as much of an eyesore as the out. Only a low table, covered by a small blanket with a mandala print on. A large crystal ball siting on top of it.

The girl pulled off her purple head cloth, her long pink hair tangled and messed. She smiled at him and sat down, her hands ghosting over her crystal ball.

"I sensed a strong presence from you." Her eyes dimmed, her hands and fingers moving like liquid over her crystal ball. "Such a... force... is not common for normal people."

He rolled his eyes at her.

She sent a look to him that seemed to suggest that he should listen.

"Fortune Telling is... a rare art. Not everyone can do it and those that can, do not have the... power required to bring it out to its full potential.

"You're telling me this... why?"Sasori resisted the urge to roll his eyes again. He wanted to get out of here but this girl just had to read his fortune. She kept insisting and insisting until he gave in, just to get her to shut up about fate and knowledge.

"I am a real Fortune Teller." She said. "One with the true power of insight. I will now read your fortune. But not with my crystal ball." She added, smiling she looked to his hand. He pulled his hand under the table, his eyes shifting. "I'm going to read your palm." She explained.

"I don't have time for this." He stood up, and kicked the cushion out of his way, and started to walk out.

"Wait!" The pink haired Fortune Teller followed him out into the Fair street. Sasori looked for the ferris wheel where he was to meet up with someone.

The girl ran up beside him. "Since you have powers too then my fortune would be 100 percent accurate!"

"I don't care." He waved her aside, picking his way through the crowds.

"You're going to die!"

He stopped. She ran into him and staggered back. He grabbed her wrist and squeezed it. She cried out in pain and he pulled her aside, away from the crowds and back behind the tents.

"Tell me everything, woman." He growled, letting her wrist go.

"I have a name and its Sakura." She huffed, patting down her long red skirt. "My clothes are sacred, they can't get dirty or stained."

"You said I'll die. Tell my why and how." He said irritably to her.

"Give me your palm them."

"You could tell my death without it."

"That was just with my own power and even then it took me a while to see. If you give me your hand then I would be able to see more clearly."

His hand shot out and he shook it impatiently. She grabbed his hand gently, turning it palm up. Her thumb tracing all its minute lines and crevasses. The motion almost felt good. He had to remind himself of his mission.

"You will die at the hands of two woman." Sakura said, her eyes glazed over. He almost pulled his hand away from her. Her voice had changed. It was rougher and and deeper but there was something powerful behind it. Something mystical. "One, a person you used to know very well. Someone who was almost a mother but never was.

"The other, a hit girl, a weapons master. She has deadly aim. Never missed a target her entire life. The two together will bring you down"

"How do I prevent this."

"Don't go on your mission."

"Can't do that" He said, thinking of his mission. Both of them.

"Then you will die."

"The very words I want to hear right now." He spat.

"Would you want me to lie?"

He thought for a moment. "Yes... yes I would."

She turned away from him, her arms hanging loosely at her sides. She said nothing then suddenly ran off. He didn't chase after her. He didn't have time to waste on her. He ran to the ferris wheel and meet up with Deidara and Kakuzu. Their target was going to pass through here in two hours.

And in two hours, was also his death date.

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Tally Mai's thoughts: Another AU story idea I had. Nothing special but it's a new idea that I don't think anyone has done before. Not as fun to write as I had wanted. I kinda rushed it a bit but I sorta like it.

* * *

**Her Song**

She walked on stage, lit up with lights. A spot of light as white and rounds as the moon, hanging in velvet darkness. Her pink hair pulled back and gold wrapped around her neck. Her dress fanned out around her, as she sat down on her chair. She looked out into the darkness. The light blinding out the crowds faces.

She knew no one but everyone knew her. She was the singer of Rommel's Tavern and always will be.

In the orchestra pit before her, deep down in their hole, the bass strum up its notes. Beats that drummed the air. The violins warmed up to him, building up, speed and power. The winds joined in, floating under the strings sad melody and then it was her turn.

She opened her mouth, and sang a long mellow note, her voice welding with the others until they backed off.

"_The moon is bright tonight"_ She sung.

"_The moon is bright tonight. _

_On this night I sing to you_

_to you who killed my heart."_

The violins plucked their notes, haunting and eerie they played for her and she started to sing again.

"_My soul died that night_

_My soul died that night!_

_I sang my song for you alone_

_and you tore apart my heart."_

The bass player plucked his notes, his fingers sliding up the finger board and back down. The new low melody grooving, the violins sad, counter melody strung along.

"_I gave my all to you_

_and you killed that too_

_why did I ever stay with you_

_I should have seen through you_

_The moon was bright that night_

_the moon is bright tonight!_

_I sing my song every night_

_to appease that one..._

_who couldn't leave me_

_and killed to keep me close_

_you said you loved me..._

_Oh the moon is bright tonight"_

The winds airy song floated in the air, filling up the space the violins and bass had left behind. She hummed the rest when they dropped out and the lights, dimmed out on her.

And in the crowd, far in the back. He sat and listened, her voice stuck in his head. He decided she would be the next one. He'll preserve her beauty forever. A slave to these pigs, abused and forced to sing each night he'll intervene.

And preserve her beauty forever.

*** * ***

Tally Mai's thoughts: I wanted to do a drabble that had a poetic feel to it and this is what that idea turned into. I like it. It was fun writing the poem. Like in most of the one-shots and drabbles I have written o far, I leave things unsolved or unexplained to make the reader think. I think of everything this story leaves behind to the readers imagination and it makes it even more interesting.

Well I think I'll stop here for now.

I'm writing all these drabbles and one-shots not just for me but for everyone else too. If you're trying to write a story and can't think of any good ideas then you can take any of these here and write full blown stories for them. Just send me a message or signed review saying you would like to use one of the idea's and I'll get back in contact with you. I just want to make sure you give me credit for the idea, haha.

I'm going to try to update this on a regular basis and I might use some of these idea's my self for future stories.

Also if you have your idea that you would like to see and my own mind can't think of anything then I just might write a drabble or one-shot for the idea _you_ gave me.

So this story is win-win for us all! See you next chapter. Oh by the way. Please tell me your favorite one-shot/drabble! Thank you! And** review!!**

Tally Mai-chan was here.


	2. Pink in Sand

Tally Mai-chan: Is is me or do I have too much fun writing these? Oh well. This time, a Cannon Story to start us off.

**Pink in Sand**

Sakura sighed as the the cool breeze brushed against her face. She wished that the rest of her body, hidden under the bulky, long coat, could feel the same way. The people of Suna dressed so much differently than those in Konoha.

With her whole body covered except her face she would think that she would be even hotter but it kept her cooler. She did try one day, wearing nothing but shorts and a tank, but she sweated so much she could have taken a bath in her own sweat.

But the twilight air was the one comfort of the desert. Right not, it was not hot like the day, and not yet cold, like the freezing nights, but some perfect place in between. Of course this blissful moment lasted for only half an hour. For her it was enough. Knowing she could have some relief from the harsh desert kept her going.

So she always tried to get away from work at this time. No matter what she would make it here, to her "house" at the edge of town.

She leaned back against the cliff like wall surrounding the entire city. Her house literally on the wall, her room and the bathroom within the rock structure. She liked it because it was away from the crowed parts of the city and there was a small park a short walk away where two trees grew. They were small but they gave her comfort.

She looked up at the painted sunset sky and watched as a white bird flew above the far edge of town. She started to wonder what kind of bird it was, listing off all the species that lived here. She certainly didn't recognize it right away like she could with most birds.

She walked into her house and grabbed her binoculars and scoped the sky for the bird. She found it after a few moments of searching and wished she hadn't.

On the bird was a man. And he was wearing an Akatsuki cloak.

She knew the cloak. She was at the meeting where Yuura discussed the Akatsuki, having learned about them from Jiraiya. The Akatsuki showing up on the day that she learned more about them was almost ironic.

She ran into her house, shedding her cloak. She grabbed a long sleeve black body armor shirt and lose black pants. It wouldn't be long until night and she didn't want to be distracted by the cold. She was going to fight them and had to be prepared.

She ran from her house to the north gate where Yuura was stationed. He was the head of home security and he would get word out that Akatsuki were here.

She rounded the corner and the gap between the two walls the village "gate" rose up before her. She picked up speed and saw him.

His hunched figure, his black cloak.

"Akatsuki!" She yelled, stopping just shy of ten feet from him. "I have questions for you."

The hunched man laughed at her, his deep voice sounding wicked to her ears.

"I hate to be kept waited." He said darkly. Sakura wondered what he could be talking about when he spoke again. "I keep telling him that but he never listen. I'll just have to entertain myself with you, then later you can join my collection."

She said nothing back. She'll let her fists to the talking. She kicked off the ground and aimed for his head. He jumped aside and a metal scorpions tail pulled out from behind him and she rolled out of its way.

The next second he was on her, the metal tail darting in and out as it jabbed at her. She rolled and stepped out of its way, seeing poison trickle of it. This was a weapon to fear. She ran in circles around him, moving steadily back to the rock wall protecting the village from the elements, and attackers.

"Did nothing against Akatsuki" She thought dryly and he forced her against the wall. The metal tail waiting to slash at her. She tensed as the tail shivered in the air, sensing her fear and attacked. She ducked and the the tail smashed into the rock wall. It tried to pull out for another attack but it was stuck.

Sakura heard herself yelling as the chakra gathered into her fists. She saw nothing but his face as she lunged straight to him, her fist crashing through his body. She hid her shock as his body broke apart into wooden pieces and jumped aside from the wreckage.

She lost face when a cloaked figure stood up from the wreckage. A pale hand pulling the black fabric off himself. She stood captivated by his almond brown eyes. She remembered he was an enemy, but he couldn't have been. He looked so young.

He shock his red hair and glared at her. She balked, taking a step back. The word "puppet master" flashed through her head but she couldn't think. For in an instant she saw the difference in skill.

And it terrified her.

* * *

Tally Mai's thoughts: I kinda liked the idea for this one. I couldn't remembered what was supposed to happen after I ended it there but it was good, not that it helps me... But a good cannon idea if I say so myself.

I will do at lest one cannon story one-shot/drabble each story, maybe more if I feel like it.

* * *

**500 words**

Sakura stared down at her blank sheet of paper. Why did her teacher have to assign such a stupid assignment? Write about love in 500 words. What kind of English homework is this? Could she just skip the assignment? But it was almost the end of the quarter and if she didn't get perfect 100's in everything then her parents were going to take her TV away.

Sakura did not want to lose her TV. How was she she supposed to watch her favorite soap operas without it?

Sakura sighed and knew she had to do this assignment. Maybe she could just wing her way through it, writing whatever cheesy crap that just happened to enter her mind. Loves is glorious and makes you feel like a princess from a fairy tail... yeah, that was good. Try as she might though she couldn't write it.

She had a reputation for writing the best essays and papers, not this half hearted crap. Her and Akasuna Sasori, the top students at her school did the best essays. She liked Sasori and for a moment thought to write about him. But she didn't love him did she?

Sakura screamed in anguish and balled up her paper, throwing it into the trash. She flipped on the TV and sat back on her floor, channels flashing past as she found her favorite soap. No one she knew watched this particular soap since a lot of older people liked it. Her friends liked to watch reality TV or sports. She was happy with her soaps.

She was particularly excited about tonights episode. There was going to be a new cast member. A young man playing the role of Mr. Johnson's nephew. Mr. Johnson's son had an affair with his secretary and he was their love child. But since the death of Mr. Johnson's son and his illness, giving him only three months to live, his family has been in a frenzy over who gets his fortune. With the new arrival of his nephew, aka the legal inheritor of his money, he wanted to get to know him.

Sakura's hands trembled when the nephew walked on stage. Smiling and dressed in an Italian suit. Strutting across the stage. It was him. It was Akasuna Sasori.

Playing the role of the nephew.

* * *

Tally Mai's thoughts: Funny thing about the title of this story. I checked my word count and I was short by 500 words so I decided to write a drabble called 500 words. As you see its a rather long, but a very good drabble. I really like it.

I think this is one of my more favorite drabbles. Wonder why Sasori is an actor? Who knows? (image a heart at the end of that please)

* * *

**Sakurella (A Cinderella Story)**

"I know its hard for you Sweet Pea but its for the best."

"I understand father. You want to be rich."

"N-no Sweat Pea you got it all wrong! I want what's best for you."

"You want a luxurious life."

"Now come on, you don't believe that now do you?"

"I do."

"But I-"

"Father... if you are done I would like to go to bed now. I have a hard day ahead of me."

"... Good night Sweat Pea..."

Sakura's father kissed her on the cheek and turned out the lights, leaving her alone.

She didn't know why her father was remarrying. It had only been one month since her loving mother had died. And to make things worse her father was remarrying to a _man_. A man. Why? She thought bitterly. Because a new law passed in Konoha that gave money to gay couples, something about gay rights but it was all stupid to her.

Tomorrow she and her father were moving out of their home, her mothers house. She remembered when they first came to this house. Her father said that they were going to live here forever. He was such a liar.

She was getting a step sister. A girl named Hinata. And a new cousin too, a boy named Neji. She hoped she could get along with them.

The next day came and she and her father arrived before the Hyuuga Compound. Their new house, her father said, but to her it looked more like a jail.

They walked in and she meet her new sister in law. Their fathers told them to go play while they talked. Sakura knew they were discussing how to split up the money they were going to receive for their marriage and other money stuff.

Hinata took them into her room and immediately grabbed dolls from the bed.

"I want to play doll house." She smiled innocently, pushing an old doll into Sakura's hands.

"I don't want to." Said Sakura but Hinata acted like she ignored her.

"I'm gonna play the mamma and you can be the baby."

"But I don't want to play dolls." Sakura whined, setting her doll back on the bed.

Hinata grabbed the doll and threw it at the wall. It's porcelain head breaking with a loud crack. Sakura was stunned so that she didn't see the maids that walked in nor heard Hinata crying.

"She broke my favorite doll!" Her new sister cried.

"I-I did not!" Sakura defended, coming back to her scenes. "You're the one that threw it."

The maids were furious at her. "Why would Hinata-sama break the doll she inherited from her mother?" They didn't believe Sakura's story. Nor will they ever take her side in anything, even when it was clear she was not at fault. Sakura would later learn that it was because her father married Hinata's father.

So she was scolded and told she had to go without dinner that night. When they left Hinata looked at her smugly.

"I'm get a new doll and you gonna get no dinner." She smiled angelically. But Sakura was wise to her now, she was a wolf in sheep's clothing.

The next few days pasted by too slowly for Sakura's tastes. Every time Hinata wanted something new or just wanted to get Sakura into trouble all she had to do was break something and cry. Sakura was of course, punished each time for her "crimes". She would have to cut onions in the kitchen or clean the floors. Once she had to carry water from the well and back to the water container. A distance of half a mile in all.

Sakura also had to play what ever Hinata wanted to play. And she was always the under character. When they played cops and robbers Hinata was the cop and her the robber. When playing knights and castles Hinata was the princess and she was the dragon or ugly hag.

One day, after her latest punishment was over-Hinata ripped her old kimono so she could get a new one that her father said she couldn't have- she ran to the branch member side of the house.

And there she meet her cousin, the boy who was with Hinata when she was not. The boy smiled at her and asked if she was forced to be Hinata's lacky like he was. She nodded, happy that she found someone who suffered as she did.

They talked for some time about Hinata, how mean and horrible she was. Sakrua found Neji really nice and they became quick friends. Every time she could get away from Hinata she would be with Neji and together they would play or go exploring.

Sakura really liked her new friend.

"Hey Sakura." Neji said one day as they sat outside the Main Building. "Let's get back at Hinata."

"How?" Sakura asked. They talked about this kind of thing before but only jokingly. Today though, Neji looked serious.

"Let's dump a bucket of ink on her. She ripped that kimono so she could get a new one right? Well lets ruin that kimono!"

"Yeah." Sakura agreed. Hinata got everything she wanted, and Sakura never got anything she wanted. It was unfair and justice needed to be served.

So they came up with their plan and put it into play. They found a door they could place the ink bucket onto so that when a person opened the door and walked through it would fall and all the ink would dump on them.

Neji left to lead Hinata into their trap and Sakura hid behind another door, waiting patiently. When the door opened she ran forward but it was not Hinata the the bucket of ink fell on.

It was her step father.

"What's the meaning of this!" He yelled, his face red and angry. He saw Sakura and grabbed her arm, twisting it painfully. "Did you do this?"

She started to deny it when Neji appeared through the doorway.

"She did it Uncle!" He said quickly. "She told me she wanted to ruin Hinata's new kimono because Hinata got one and not her."

"You ungrateful child!" Her step father grabbed her hair and yanked it hard. "You'll pay for your wicked thoughts! I'll make sure personally to beat every single nasty idea from your head!"

And Five years have passed.

"Sakura!" Hinata shrilled, storming out of her room. "Why haven't you cleaned my Kimono yet? Are you trying to ruin my dream night? I can't believe how selfish you are! You should wish the best for your younger sister!"

"Yes Hinata-sama" Sakura bowed, now thirteen and already a slave. "It's done drying now. I'll go get it."

"Tsh. For this you can't come to the party with me."

Sakura stopped dead in her tracks. "No! But you said if I was good then I can come too!"

"You disobeyed me, therefore you broke our agreement!"

"I didn't do anything!"

Sakura knew it meant nothing to her cold step sister. Hinata never planned for her to go to the party from the beginning. But she wanted to believe that maybe, just maybe she could have one night of happiness.

So Hinata and Sakura's two fathers left for the grand party. She had plenty to do though, before her family left they gave her lots of chores that had to be completed before they got back, or she will be punished.

Sakura was used to cleaning now, it had become second nature almost. She cleaned when she woke up till the she went to bed. Always cleaning, always working.

Sakura smiled and pretend that the broom was a noble man. She played, imagining that she was wearing a beautiful western dress, light pink silk that lifted up elegantly as she spun.

She was at ball, like the ones in her old fairy tales. Where music was played and ladies and noble men danced in tiny circles around each other. But she wouldn't dance with just anyone, no. She leaned the broom against the wall, pretending to reject the broom "noble man's" offer to dance.

She wanted to dance with the prince. For this was his ball and tonight he was going to pick a bride. So caught up in her performance that she didn't notice someone watching her. Why would she, her family was gone and all the servants had the night off. It was just her. And the boy she did not know was there.

"What a beautiful night for a ball." She said dreamily, dancing her way to the courtyard. She danced just as her mother had taught her, and for a moment if felt like her mother was with her again.

Under the moonlight, dancing to old steps, Sakura cried. She kept dancing, not willing to let go of her mothers memory but the more she danced the harder she cried and then she couldn't dance any more. All she could do was cry.

"Why are you crying?"

Sakura jumped, someone was standing behind her. "Wh-who are you." She turned around, scrambling back from him. "How did you get in here?!"

He gave her a sideways look. "I didn't want to go to the party."

"You got invited." Her eyes lit up and because suddenly jealous of this boy.

"Yeah, but its boring." He shrugged nonchalantly, like it was no big deal to not go to the biggest party of the year. "Nothing but bothersome talk."

"I don't think its boring."

"Have you ever been to one?"

"N-no..."

"Then you can't say that."

Sakura pouted and really felt like smacking this kid. She lifted her hand like she was going to but stopped. He was really good looking. HE was her age but already gave off the feeling of an adult. He had red, messy hair and almond brown eyes. He saw her hand and frowned.

"Go ahead, hit me if you want."

"I-I don't want to." She put her hand down quickly, looking away from him.

"You're such a child." He scoffed at her.

"Yeah well you're too tense."

He huffed and started to walk around the courtyard with no real destination in mind. She followed him and he ignored her, but after a while he tired of her game.

"Leave me alone." Said the boy, walking faster.

"I can't." She said back, matching his pace. "I don't know who you are, you could be lying to me and really be a thief."

"At least a thief knows how to live." He said cryptically.

Sakura really wanted to hit this boy now. His back was turned to her and he had slowed down to look a cherry tree. She saw her change and ran forward, pushing him in the back. He cried out and stumbled forward. She had pushed too hard and lost her balance. They fell down together and tumbled forward.

"What'd you do that for!" The boy yelled at her, pushing her off him. "How dare a servant like you strike me!"

"I'm not a servant!" Sakura cried, shoving him in the chest again. He caught her this time and smacked her hands aside. "My step father owns this house. I should have gone to the party too! I really wanted to go to the party but she didn't want me to go. She told me I could go if I was good but she lied."

Sakura bawled her eyes out. Letting out years of pent up anger and sadness in one good cry. The boy said nothing and listened patiently to her.

"You're the Hyuuga's new step daughter?" He asked when she had stopped crying. She nodded miserably. "And Hinata is your step sister." She nodded again. "Heh, I feel sorry for you, that girl is insane."

"She said I could go too."

"I told you." He said. "That party is no fun anyways."

"I wanted to dress up."

He sighed and looked to the cherry blossom tree. He grabbed a branch and climbed up it, climbing as high has he could. He looked down at Sakura and she climbed up too, though more gracefully and easily than he did. The boy stumbled a lot when he climbed.

"I'm Sasori." He said, mindlessly picked at the flowers.

"Sakura." She said, frowning at him. "Don't pick the flowers, it hurts the tree."

They sat in silence until the adults came back. People dressed in the royal palace attire running around like frantic ants. Sasori said he had to go and jumped down from the tree. Sakura remembered that she didn't finish her chores.

She decided to stay in the tree and watch the stars.

* * *

Tally Mai's thoughts: When I first wrote out the idea for this story it was originally meant to be a humor story but as I wrote it it came out serious. Also in my original plans I had meant for Deidara to be Sakura's fairy godmother haha. Overall its a decent story, with some fine tuning and patience (that I did not have when I wrote this at the time) then it could turn outreally nice.

* * *

**Meaningless**

Her body, her moves. The way she evaded all attacks. Her graceful form, even when punching. Her hair, unkempt and neglected but still beautiful. Her eyes, powerful.

She was a worthy opponent.

But it was all meaningless. They would have their first and last battle here. It was a shame. Maybe if he acted now, took his grandmother out of the picture, and it was just her and him alone then... just then.

He could have some fun. And then her beauty, would not be so meaningless.

* * *

Tally Mai's thoughts: Ah, I just wanted a short story to fill in a gap between all these long one-shots and I was just shy of my 5k work limit.

* * *

**Model X-Haruno Sakura**

Sasori did not have high hopes for his latest model. All models A though W were total failures. They couldn't talk properly or couldn't walk. Their eyes would cross or they would just simple stop moving. He tweaked his designed, changing the command program slightly, just randomly changing one frequency for any difference at all. If one success, even a tiny one would renew his hope in this project.

"She's ready to go, yeah." Sasori's assistant, Deidara, said as he walked out of the glass chamber where his creation slumbered. "I checked over her body and there were no deficiency anywhere." He smiled shyly. "They keep getting prettier each time. You don't have some weird fetish do you Sasori-danna?"

"Says the man who gets orgasms from watching fireworks."

The blond gaged. "I-I don't not!"

"Oh but I hear you moaning in escasty every time you see one."

"Its not moaning! I'm grunting my appreciation."

"I'm sure you are."

"Experiment Model-X ready to go any minute now."

Sasori nodded and pressed several green buttons on a computer desk. "Okay, she should be live in five minutes." Sasori continued to read over the data. Most errors within the models design happened during the stage or "awakening". He always thought it was ironic how the names and terms used in the humanoid project personified the rubber, steel and bioengineering that made up their creation. Then again she was supposed to become a living person.

"Any errors?" Deidara nervously asked. He stood by the glass case away from the computer, he was to watch as she "woke" up.

"A few minor ones." Said Sasori as certain code sequences, numbers flashing across the black screen, caught his eyes. "Her body is taking a while to synchronize with the command drive."

Deidara raised an eyebrow. "That's a first. Usually the body comes first than the drive kicks in. It's been five minutes. By now or even before with the other models there would be some body movement. But there's been none."

A crazy thought crossed Sasori's mind. He dismissed it's possibility right away but he shared it with Deidara for kicks. "It's almost like the drive or "brain" is conscious and trying to figure out the body."

Deidara chuckled.

"These Codes." Sasori started to write furiously on his note pad. "I've never seen these codes before. Deidara, you didn't do anything to the command drive did you?"

"No." Deidara joined him by the computer. "I don't understand." The blond scratched his head. "These aren't any of the codes in the drive. They... they look like the codes found in real human DNA... Look there."

Deidara typed on the keyboard and a part of code isolated from the rest, sliding to the right corner on the screen. "That code right there is for cell mitosis. And that there, G1, symbiosis and G2 proses. Even a code for interphase."

Sasori shook his head in disbelief. "No way... there's just no way. She's not real. She's not alive. How can she have DNA codes for cell reproduction?"

A heavy thud broke their thoughts and they simultaneously turned to the glass cage. And there, on the floor was Model-X.

Walking like a new born calf she flopped around on her feet, falling every few steps until she discovered her balance. She touched everything around her, the walls, her bed. Her white gown, her pink hair.

Then her eyes opened and she saw them for the first time.

"Hello." She said in perfect English, her voice even and no breath taken. "My name of Model-X... no, my name is Haruno Sakura." And she dazzled them with a smile.

"Where did you learn that name." Sasori approached the cage, her eyes following his every movement. Occasionally they would flicker to Deidara in curiosity but she remained keen to Sasori.

"Don't you like it?" She smiled sweetly, cocking her head to the side to make her look more innocent.

"Where did you learn that name."

She pouted, her face turning sour, but it still looked cute. "Before I was awakened. I looked into the computers hard drive and I saw the name there, in the older files. I liked it and took it as my own. Model-X is not a proper girl's name."

Sasori said nothing and walked back to the computer. He beckoned Deidara to follow him out the room. The blond followed him.

"How long ago did we change the command drive." Sasori quickly asked the blond. Deidara answered him quickly.

"Two months ago, yeah. You changed the drive then made her body."

"And where was the drive during that time."

"Plugged into the main computer."

"She was alive that entire time."

Deidara laughed, thinking it was some joke of his professor but Sasori was serious. "You saw her." He said. "She learned to walk in mere minutes, something that took the others ages to learn and some never did. She spoke perfect English. None of the other models have even gotten close to proper speech.

"We somehow made her alive and for those two months she was in our computer. Learning our language and how to walk, how do anything!She could have gotten access to the Internet and who knows what she learned!

"She was responsive to her environment. She could see things, make conjectures to their nature and develop her own opinion of them. That name, Haruno Sakura was the name of my previous assistant but she left the project long ago."

"Why'd she leave?" Deidara couldn't help but ask. He didn't understand anything else that was going on, he could at least understand this.

Sasori's eyes darkened and for several moments said nothing. "She had her reasons." He said vaguely and re-entered the lab.

"Welcome back." Sakura said to them. She was laying on her back on her white bed, drawing circles in the air with her finger. "Did you have a nice chat? I wish I could have joined. It's awful lonely by myself."

"Are you happy?" Sasori walked to the case, pressing again the glass. The frame of a door, five feet tall and three feet wall appeared then slid to the side. Letting Sasori in.

Sakura smiled at him, as if asking if there was any other emotion than happiness?

He sat down beside her and took her hand.

"Model-X" He said slowly.

"Sakura." The girl insisted, threating to pull her hand from his.

"... Sakura."

She smiled.

"The completion of this project... the completion of you, wasn't expected for another twenty years. If you were successful by then then you would have saved all of humanity. But now... but now you have doomed us all."

And she smiled.

* * *

Tally Mai's thoughts: Ended with a sci-fi ish fic this time. I might just turn this into a real story later. I have a bunch of good ideas for it and writing sci-fi is fun! Got the idea for this one yesterday but didn't included it in the last chapter. I like how Sakura is so innocent right now, haha.

Well that is all for now then. I would just like to remind everyone that these stories are, in a sense, up for adoption. You like the idea then PM and we'll talk.

Also if you, the most wonderful reader, has an idea then tell me and I'll work it into this collection somehow.

This is a fanfiction where everyone and benefit and I really hope that everyone who reads this collection gets something from it for I have learned a lot about my writing style and other things by writing all of these one-shots and drables. See you next time.

Tally Mai-chan was here

P.S I will be updating this story weekly, surprising isn't it? Oh and tell me your favorite story from this chapter too!


	3. Horrific Genius

Tally Mai-chan: I am a hypocrite. I'll admit it. I said I'd update weekly and the next time I post something is weeks later. I am sorry for this rather long delay. I've been in this writing depression and school has been total crap. But I'm working through things and I'm slowly recovering from this depression. And since I'm just coming out of a funk this weeks chapter will be shorter than usual. Only three this time.

Well here's this weeks chapter. Enjoy

* * *

**Horrific Genius**

Sakura sat outside a Science room of Konoha High. She ignored the girls that cast glances at her from across the hall. Sakura recognized the face of her once best friend, Ino. The blond girl's teal eyes caught hers and Sakura saw the pain that flickered through them. Pain changed to hatred and Ino turned her nose up, her eyes sharp.

Sakura looked away first and she heard Ino's high, and suddenly annoying laugh. Her new girlfriends laughed with her and they left.

Slowly a calm, empty silence filled the school. Students running to catch the bus or stragglers with no place to go. There were only three major clubs at Konoha High. Any other club would fail to keep members after a week. The football club was the first and foremost. The cheer leading squad following after and then lastly the yearbook club.

But all those clubs were far off in other parts of the school, the little science wing its own world. Another planet circling around a larger world. Together but separate.

The door opened and a senor boy stepped out. His pushed his messy red hair out of his face and took notice of the little freshman sitting on the floor.

"Is there a reason you're here?" He asked her boredly. He didn't look like he wanted an answer but Sakura wanted answer.

"I heard you're starting a science club." She said as she fiddled with the zipper of her gray jacket.

He looked up and down the hall. "I was, but no one showed up."

"I'm here..."

"The club is inside the room moron."

Sakura said nothing before awkwardly standing up and shuffled past him into the science room. He said something but she couldn't hear him. Another insult most likely.

The science room was devoted to the study of biology. Posters of the anatomy of humans and frogs hung on the walls. Books about cells and animals lining the shelves along the back wall. Wide windows sat at the top of the walls letting slanted light into the room. It was the only source of light, there were no florescent lights at all.

"Where's the teacher." Sakura looked all around the room but no teacher was there or sitting behind a desk.

"He left to get coffee but he took his bag and papers with him. He's not coming back."

Sakura stared at him in shock. "And he just left you in this room?"

The red head shrugged and pulled a set of keys from his pockets. "Tossed me the keys and said do whatever you want."

Sakura sat down on a desk and stared at the senor expectantly. He stared back for only a moment when he caught her meaning.

"I doubt two people count as a club." He said blandly.

"Depends on how you look at it." She said back. He nodded and Sakura thought she saw a smile ghost across his lips but when she looked again his mouth was the same thin line.

The long room had two rows of wide tables, with five tables in each row. They had slick black tops that cleaned up nicely and were cold to the touch. The floor title was all white, matching the white walls. Cabinets of supplies ran down the left and right side wall, and were a variety of colors. Some were a dark green and others were a lilac or blue. Like someone went on a shopping spree at a yard sale and haphazardly tossed everything into one room.

"You're cheerleader aren't you?" He said, sitting on the teachers desk. Sakura looked around him at the freshly wiped black board. His fingers impatiently drummed on the desk and his eyes bore into her. Giving in she said that she was. Putting emphasis on the word "was".

"There were some... complications." She continued, speaking like it was no big deal, but the senor boy saw through her casualty.

"It doesn't matter." He shrugged off the topic. "Not my business anyways."

"What were you going to do with a science club?" Sakura asked, wanting to get away from her own problems, and the silence that started to creep between them.

"I don't know." His answer surprised her. "I felt like it."

"Don't you like science?"

"Do you?"

"Yes."

He smirked and kicked his legs over the desk and hoped off on the other side. He took a piece of chalk and boldly started to write on the fresh board. In neat, clean writing he wrote "Artificial Life"

"Know anything." Said Sasori as he ended the last 'e' with a sharp jerk.

Sakura stared at the words and carefully processed her thoughts. He looked impatient, waiting for her answer. He even told her to hurry up. She ignored him and even though she already had her answer she made him wait longer for it.

"It's creation from the unliving."

"Took you how long to figure that?"

She pouted, "If you're not going to like my answers then don't ask. I thought very hard about it."

"Indeed." He set the chalk down and walked to the book case on the far wall. He skimmed the shelves until he found the right one. An old thick book with green bindings, and dust fell of its yellow pages as he flipped through it. "Artificial life, immortality, it's all the same thing. Humans wanting what they could never obtain."

"That's depressing." Sakura said her immediate thought. A stern glance from the senor made her face burn with embarrassment. "Well it is. I mean, we've come up with so much stuff, like cars, computers. People long ago wanted to fly and they were told it was impossible but look at what we have now! Airplanes!"

Sakura was sure she saw the smile on his lips as he closed the book and placed it back in its spot on the shelf.

"The exact same conclusion I came to." He smiled.

Sakura laughed halfheartedly, "So we're going to build a human being? Is that our first science club project?"

He answered her seriously. "I wanted to start smaller than that but if you're feeling ambitious."

She didn't comprehend that he was serious, he couldn't have been. Building a living human being is impossible. Impossible.

But so was human flight.

"We can't do that." She shouted, "We're just high schoolers! Not even top scientists from around the world can do that."

"The only limitations we have are the ones set by our own minds."

"You've gone off the deep end. You're mad!"

"Everyone's mad."

Sakura wanted to hightail it out of there that minute no, that second but something held her back. Many things stopped her from leaving. She tried to deny what made her stop.

But she knew it was her own madness.

Resonating with his.

*** * ***

Tally Mai-chan's thoughts: Wow this got long. I was writing and before I knew it it was over 1000 words long! A high school story to start us off. It defiantly leaves a good amount of material for your brain to crunch on.

Lots a possibilities for this one. I really hope you guys like to use your imagination. And if not then I hope these stories start making you use it. Make up your own conclusions to all the little mysteries I leave you guys.

* * *

**It isn't the snowy night's fault**

Sasori didn't cry. He was too old to cry. Twenty year olds didn't cry. He was an adult, he has lived on his own longer than he could remember. He moved out of his grandmothers house when he was fifteen and had always been fine. He would always find work to pay the bills, stores that stocked his favorite foods. Life moved in a constant flow around him and he would trudge along at his pace.

He thought that he could exist like that forever. Life slapped him in the face for that.

The doctor in his white coat stepped out of the operating room. His face hardened. He's not going to tell me gently. Sasori knew right away but it didn't matter how the doctor told him. He was preparing his heart since he got the call.

"You're grandmother didn't make it."

Sasori said nothing. The doctor continued to drabble about the details. Listing off her previous conditions. Then he talked about the weather. That was taboo.

"Shut up." Sasori spat, "I think I get the freaking picture. Get out of my face, mail me the bill, whatever. I'm out of here."

The doctor was taken back and looked like he was in shock but he recovered and his face went hard again. The doctor nodded and turned back into the operating room.

Sasori didn't care anymore. He hated hospitals, but more than anything he hated snowy, stormy nights.

A pair of nurses rushed past him and one stopped to ask him if he had seen a pink haired girl. He shook his head and they ran on. He didn't bother to think about them or the pink haired girl they were after but life had other plans for him. Life liked to screw with him he thought.

The elevator door opened and he saw her crouched in a corner, knees pulled tightly to her chest. Her long pink hair spilled around her shoulders and a figure that jerked slightly. He could hear her crying.

He didn't want to deal with her, he almost hated her. Hated that she could cry. He pressed the button and the small lights above the door lit up. The steel doors closed and the rig slid up for half a second and started its slow decent down. The girl looked up only to see what floor he was going too. He saw her face, pale skin and light pink lips. Her eyes, he assumed were bright green, but they were red and puffy from crying.

"Why are you here." She asked him, resting her check on her knees. Her eyes curious. He said nothing to her, and she wounder who he was.

"I could ask you the same." He said.

Her legs slid out and her hand grasped the fabric of her white hospital gown. "My heart." She said quietly, like her heart would shatter into pieces if she said it too loudly. "It's broken."

Sasori looked into her pained eyes for only a moment, and wished he hadn't. He saw her pain, and she saw his.

"You're heart is broken too huh." She said. It wasn't a question. It was the truth.

"Shut up." He said dumbly, his mind failing to respond to her. "It's none of your business."

"My real heart was broken since I was born, but I know the pain of your broken heart."

"Shut up!" He shouted, all his anger spilling out into her. "Goddammit you're annoying! Don't talk like you know me!"

The elevator shuttered and jerked suddenly down. Sasori was thrown off his feet and the the girl screamed, curling her body into a tight ball. The elevator moaned and metal gears clashed together. The lights flickered, and for several seconds remained on and died.

"Dammit." Sasori swore, kicking his leg at a wall. The elevator jerked and slid downward for a sickening three seconds.

"I think the storm knocked out the electricity." The girl shuddered.

"Am I cursed?" Said Sasori, looking at her. All his anger gone, all his pain. A fear that he never showed anyone, a fear that grew deep in his heart, now emerging.

The girl crawled over to him an her hand grabbed his. "You have painful memories of snowy nights too?"

He nodded. "Twelve years ago... my parents died driving home in a storm. I was there too... but I didn't die. And tonight. I was driving my grandmother home, the car hit an ice patch and we slid. We hit a guard rail. I was fine, uninjured even, but she..." He trailed off, but she knew the end.

"My parents died too." She said softly. "But I was a baby, I was just born that night, tonight actually. It was a heavy storm that came from nowhere. They crashed and died. During the crash, something hit my chest and did something bad to my heart.

"I think I'm cursed too. There's always a snow storm on my birthday, reminding me of the lives I took. Because I was born, they died." Tears streaked down her face.

Sasori sighed and told her she could cry on his shoulder. She nodded and her tears gushed from her eyes. He asked her if she could cry for him too.

"Why?" She asked, sniffing to hold back her tears.

"Because I can't cry."

"That's good. Because I have too many tears."

The girl cried into his shoulder and he held her, his arm wrapped around her shoulder. He didn't know how long they sat alone in the darkness. He didn't know when they would get out of the elevator. He didn't know if he was going to die tonight or not. There was a lot of things he didn't know.

And she, she was like him. She knows his pain, she understood him more than any person he knew and yet he had only just meet her. Maybe life wasn't totally out to get him. Maybe stormy nights aren't bad.

If it meant that he got to meet her.

*** * ***

Tally Mai-chan's thoughts: I think this is my favorite story so far. It sounds like it could make a really nice long-shot. Not a long story but definitely a long one-shot. Also since I don't think I made it real clear Sakura is 18 is this story. She sounds like a little child doesn't she? But she is definitely over 16 okay. So don't go thinking Sasori is a pedophile or anything. (though I just might write that now that I think about it....)

Anyways, just a sweet and sad story that was inspired by another story I read that made me cry. Maybe that's why I like this story so much. If anyone is interested the book is a manga called Nanairo Sekai or "The World In Seven Colors" You can find it on and I fully recommend reading it.

* * *

**Lady Sakura of the Light**

"He's an Imperial Soldier Lady Sakura!"

"We need to kill him now before the whole army comes!"

"They'll burn the village down. They'll take everything!"

Sakura silenced them all with a wave of her hand. Dismissing them all with a glance only a few resisted, insisting that they put the safety of the village first. She never liked to resort to magic unless it was to heal or life or death situation but the people needed to calm down.

Her hand lifted to eye level and she quietly mouthed the ancient words of healing. A gentle white light encased her hand. The light grew, being more translucent as it spread it. The light wrapped around the villagers heads and their expressions grew dreamy. With a few extra words the light spread beyond the gray stone walls of the church. Spreading eastward over the village, and to the houses on the outskirts of the fields.

Sakura locked the door to the room, her spell would put the villagers minds at ease. It calms and opens the mind to other possibilities. She hoped that they would prepare for battle should it come to that, but also prepare their hearts for the kindness towards our fellow man. Something she preached every Sunday to the village.

On a bed, laying on sheets once clean and white now stained with crimson blood sat the soldier. Covered in head to toe in black amour with red trim on the edges. His shield, still attached to his arm had an emblem of red clouds set before a red moon.

She methodically stripped him of his armor, setting it up in a neat pile at the end of the bed. His black shirt was wet with blood and there were no tears. She too removed it and cringed in horror at the sight of what she found.

As a healer blood was no stranger to her, but this man's entire chest was covered in blood. The red ooze spreading everywhere. Her body was treating the wound before she even thought about it. The words spilling from her mouth as her fingers searched his body for the injury.

She found it quickly, a deep slash across his stomach. Her hands glowed brightly and she swept them over the wound. The skin melded together in an eye beat. She found no other injury on him but when she had cleaned the blood she saw puncture holes one both sides of the gash.

Someone had closed up the injury by sewing the skin together. Sakura was appalled that someone who could suture wounds would not treat the wound first. She proceed to cast spells over his body. A spell to restore the blood he lost, another spell that would help his heart stabilize. A spell to relax his mind and ensure that he got restful slumber while he recovered.

She even cleaned his armor, taking special care with the metal and the leather straps. She knew about the Imperial State of Akatsuki. A ruthless militaristic state that was in constant war with it's neighbor nation, The Royal Alliance, a empire of five different nations serving under the rule of the Five Kages.

This small village lay on the border of Konoha, the nation closest to Akatsuki. For years Akatsuki had been attacking from the norther, breaking through Iwa into the heart of the Alliance. Was this soldier a foreshadowing of a southern attack?

Sakura was too lost in thought to see the soldier awake. She had left his helmet on, if possible she could have removed it but his helmet was attached to his head. Impossible to remove.

His feet hit the floor and the heavy sound made her jump. He crouched on the floor and she knew his eyes were on her. She sharply stood up and he lunged. Her hands flashed before her and she shouted the spell.

A vibrant yellow wall of light flashed between them and the man was thrown back on his feet. Instantly she cast the spell of binding and yellow strands of light appeared in the air and wrapped around the man.

"I am not your enemy." Sakura said slowly. "I am Priestess Sakura."

"Where's my armor."

"Over here."

"... You treated my wound."

"Yes."

"You can use magic... and I don't recognize you... this is not Imperial Land."

Sakura knew the danger she was facing. The danger that only she could ever suffer from.

"That is correct."

"If you come with me then I'll will personally see to it that this village will be spared from the first invasion of the south."

"I do not agree."

"Oh? Do you think you are in a position to refuse my offer?" He was on his feet. Her magic still bound him but Sakura realized that her magic was useless against him.

"Only a commander in the Imperial Army has the power to decide that."

"Heh, you're a smart one." His hands started to glow blue, her light bindings scattered in a bust and vanished from the air. The blue magic building on his hand shot out and stands of blue light attached to her body.

Before she could counter his fingers twitched and she was on the floor before him, her arms twisted behind her back.

"I am Commander Sasori of the Imperial Army. By order of our great leader Pein-sama, I capture you as the first spoils of war."

*** * ***

Tally Mai-chan's thoughts: I wanted to do a fantasy style story and this sorta popped into my brain. As you can tell magic takes the place of chakra. A war torn world with chaos and deception around every corner. And some love thrown in somewhere along the line.

Well that's all for now. I hope you all forgive me for this terribly late update.

And as for a reminder all the stores and one-shots in this entire chapter and all the other chapters are up for adoption. Take them and continue them, make them your own. This is a fanfiction for everyone. Readers and Writers alike.

Want to start a story but don't know about what? Then come here and take your pick! So far no one has asked to use any of the idea's so they're all up for adoption! Also I'm offering to help anyone who wants help with their story. I am a beta reader that specializes in plot structure and characters.

Now that I got all that out of the way I have just one last thing to ask all of you. Pick the genre of the first story to start of the next chapter! Go to my profile page and check out the poll I have at the top and vote for the genre you want to see start of the next chapter.

Please leave a review or adopt a story and maybe even leave an idea for a story.

Thanks for everything

Tally Mai-chan was here.


	4. Visiting Hours

Tally Mai-chan: Hey everyone! It's me, updating late again, sorry! I have no excuse this time but my own laziness. Yeah, I'm pretty bad aren't I? It just means that I need to keep trying, and get more organized. This chapter as decided by the now monthly poll on my profile for this story, will be humor!So at the end of the next month there will be another poll! Now. Enjoy!

**Visiting Hours**

Sasori never understood why his parents insisted that he visit his grandmother. Yes she was old, yes she was lonely, yes she was wise and has ancient wisdom to pass on, but he really did not care. He was eighteen. He could think of a hundred things he would rather be doing. Things that were actually fun or interesting.

He walked through the automatic doors of Suna Retirement Home. The vivid smell of medication and moth balls filled his nose, making it crinkle.

A few nurses walked with their charges, most of them in wheel chairs. The elder people smiled at him as he walked by and he would shyly nodded his head back, and maybe give a little smile. He walked up to the counter and tried to get the attention of the receptionist.

Her face was buried in a girly teen magazine, only the top of her pink head visible. He tapped the counter lightly. She didn't respond.

"Excuse me." He said sharply. She didn't budge.

Finally he grabbed the magazine from her hands and smacked it down.

"What's your problem!" The girl snapped, her green eyes burning.

"Tell me where my grandma is. Chiyo Akasuna."

"Chiyo" She repeated, looking taken back. " You're related to Chiyo." It wasn't a statement, it was "you're lieing through your teeth" accusation.

"She's my grandma now will you tell me where she is or I'll report you to your manager."

She rolled her eyes and pulled a keyboard in front of her. Her fingers typed quickly and she looked from him to the screen multiple times.

"Nope." She said finitely. "I'm afraid that your grandmother is no longer here. Try the retirement home down the road."

"I hate you." Sasori growled, smacking his hands down on the counter. "I really, hate you."

"And I hate you."

The twin doors, leading to the interior of the home burst open. An elderly woman, zooming across the floor in a wheelchair whooped and hollered. Nurses and the elderly jumped and wobbled in all directions. The once orderly reception room was thrown into chaos.

The woman laughed as her chair came to a slow stop right at the reception counter.

"Nice one Chiyo!" The reception girl high five'ed the woman. "You make every day special."

"Heheh, I'm just glad I got you as my nurse Sakura dear, all the other nurses ever did was fret. Don't do that you old coot, you'll bust your hip or you'll waste your golden years! They're the ones who wasted my golden years! Sakura, my dear girl, know what real nursing is about. Now you get off boring reception duty and let's go have some fun!"

Sasori was shocked. This was his grandmother, _his grandmother_. "Grandma Chiyo!"

The woman turned and started at Sasori for several long seconds. Squinting her eyes for a better look. "Sasori!" She threw her hands up and easily stood from the wheelchair, embracing her grandson in a tight hug. "My charming grandson! I haven't seen you in ages! You've grown kid."

Sasori gave a meaningful look to nurse Sakura. She stuck her tongue out at him and said to Chiyo. "He's been absolutely horrible Chiyo-chan. He's mean, self-centered and a bully. You should have seen how he strutted in here, making demands like he owned the place."

Chiyo laughed exuberantly. "Haha! Already arguing like newlyweds. I knew you two would make a good couple!"

Sasori's face lit up in a light blush. How could his grandmother say that! He looked to Sakura, expecting to see her sneer or laugh it off, but she was blushing too.

"L-let's go somewhere Chiyo-chan!" Sakura stuttered, refusing to look away from the floor.

The old woman laughed and took Sasori's hand, putting it on Sakura's. "I'd rather see you too get together."

"I'd rather die than spend another second with him." Sakura sneered.

"I'd rather castrate myself than listen to your bitching." Sasori answered. Too little too late did they realize the consequences of the war they started. A war that would bring them together, but that's later.

Chiyo nodded her head knowingly. "Yes, I can see it. You two'll be "making out" like no tomorrow soon."

"Like hell I will!" They shouted together.

* * *

Tally Mai-chan: This was meant to be a humor story... didn't quite turn out that way. Maybe a little humorous. I mean, Chiyo is helping Sakura get together with Sasori, and not helping her kill him. At least the irony is funny right??? Throw me a bone at least?

* * *

**House of Nightmares**

Sakura had shown no fear. No hesitation. Her friends called her back, saying that she didn't have to do it. That she did not need to prove herself. Sakura did though. She had to prove herself to Ino and her friends. They had called her weak, a coward. Sakura decided to give them no reason to ever call her that again. She'll end everything.

The house was old, the oldest in the city. A long, horrible legacy surrounded it. A legacy of superstition and violence. At the end of the old neighborhood where the first settlers first came and built their homes. The legend started even before then, but that is not important to know.

Now the house, make of dark red brick that never fade or crack, stood two stories tall and had a length of a half a football field. A once extravagant house, the social epicenter of the old town, now bears a dark curse. No matter how bright the day, the house was shrouded in shadow, no light able to pierce the pitch black that covered the windows like a curtain of darkness.

No one walked past the house, for they would hear sounds of wood scraping, metal clanging. No one lived in the house, and no one ever would. Recently at night, a single light would turn on in the old house. Thus the rumors started. And the legend, almost forgotten, was brought to light again.

Sakura approached the front door, walking up the creaking wood steps. At the top the wood shattered and her foot fell through, the splintered wood gouging into her leg. She hissed in pain and extracted her foot from the hole. Blood soaked her torn socks and filled her thin shoes. Her friends started to shout in a panic, some taking hesitant steps to the gate that boarded the neglected yard. Sakura gave them a thumbs up and pulled both her shoes and socks off. She tied her clean sock around her bloodied ankle.

"Hey billboard brow!" Ino shouted to her, surrounded by her girl possie. Sakura knew that Ino used them for show, displaying how much superficial power and influence she had. "Toss those shoes over here so we have proof you existed when the monster gets you!"

Sakura's shoes hurled through the air, missing Ino's head by a hair. Ino fumed and shouted insults to Sakura but they were in vain. Sakura was already inside the house, the front door closing with a quiet click.

She nearly choked when she walked inside the house. There was so much dust that everything was coated in a thick layer of gray, even the air. She closed her eyes and covered her mouth with the hood of her jacket.

She wished she had worn longer pants instead of shorts. It felt like the dust started to stick to her feet and legs. The floor was worse, when she walked forward she left foot prints like the ones you would leave behind in the snow during winter. She wondered if time was frozen in the house. Stuck forever in the time which it was cursed. It was the middle of Summer but the house was freezing cold. A constant chill shrouded her as she began exploring.

She was in a long room with a tall ceiling. A silver chandelier hung above her head. Or was it gold? It was hard to tell through all the dust. She could see the candle holders placed evenly within the neat circle rings of the chandelier. At the other end of the room was an open doorway with a faded purple curtain covering it.

Beside the doorway, siting dainty on a neat wooden table was a slender vase. She picked it up and wiped the dust off from it. It was a pale gold color with red flowers printed on it. The deal was that she had to go inside the house and bring back something to prove herself. This vase was all she needed and satisfied she hurried back to the doorway.

Her hand grasped the doorknob and she stopped.

This house wasn't all that scary. In fact, it looked like it would be quite fun to explore. She turned to look at the purple curtains in the doorway. There could be many interesting things inside the house. It hasn't been touched for decades. No thief or robber brave enough to try this house. And what if she just didn't come in, take something and split. What if she _spent the night,_ in the most horrifying house in all of Konoha? Then no one, not in a million years would _ever_ question her bravery again.

Sakura set the vase down by the door so she wouldn't forget it the next morning and walked to the purple curtain. As brave as she thought she was she remembered the light that has been turned on since the beginning of summer.

She looked to the floor. There were no other foot prints in the dust than her own barefoot ones. She never saw the light herself. The house was dark when she came in. It had to of been made up, only a plot by Ino to make her more scared.

She pushed the curtain aside with clear determination and stepped into the lobby.

It took her a few moments for her eyes to get used to the darkness and when the intangible forms of the darkness took form, she gasped. A grand staircase filled the room, spanning out across the floor and tapering to a quarter of its size by the second floor. Not even an inch of dust could hide the glow of the gold on the stair case. Sakura ran forward to brush off a majestic lion head as the base of the left banister. The right banister the base of a tiger.

Four more chandeliers hung from the ceiling, their white candles still in their holders. Intricate spider webs connected the gold pillars of the banister. The cold tile floor chilled her feet, and the air was stale and clouded with dust but she was too fascinated to care.

She wondered into other rooms and found the most enchanting things. There was a gorgeous dinning room with a long mahogany table, dressed for a dinner party, delicate porcelain plates set out for a party of six. There was a small open room with a section of the wall carved out, music stands inside of it. Sakura thought it was the perfect place to have a dance. She continued her exploration of the first floor and found the kitchen, a lavish bathroom and a bar with a billiards table.

Sakura walked back into the lobby, resting on the steps of the stair case. Her heart beating with rampant excitement. She never has so much fun in her life. There was an air of discovery and adventure all throughout the house. She had always loved to learn new things. Reading whatever books she could get her hands on, but there was something more amazing with her search of the house. She was learning but not by reading about it but actually, tangibly being there.

She stood up, and headed up stairs to the second floor.

A loud crash resonated upstairs and she screamed. She stumbled back down the stairs, tripping over her own feet as she fell. She hit the floor, smashing her arm against her side and her ankle throbbed with new pain.

Sakura quickly sat up, only to collapse onto her knees. Her ankle was swollen and red, her sock bandage throughly soaked with new blood. She tried to pull it off but the cloth had stuck to her skin, bringing new pain everything she tried to pull it off. She thanked god her arm was okay, only slightly bruised with a few cuts.

"What was that?" She spoke for the first time, her own voice sounding small and weak. If she was ever afraid it was now. She tried using her reason to chase away her fears. It was an old house, things broke and fell all the time. Maybe a chandelier broke and hit the floor.

She wanted to turn around but she felt that if she did then it would make her a big coward. If Ino found out that she tried to stay the night but backed out then there would be no end to her torment. It didn't matter how long she had managed to stay inside, the only thing that would matter was that she got scared and bailed.

So she stood, and limped up the stairs.

"Hello?" Sakura couldn't help but call out. There was no response. She bit her lips and limped down a narrow hallway. Doors spaced far apart from each other on either side of the hall. She shook the knobs, they were all locked. It was first time she encountered a lock door in the entire house. She tried peaking through the large key hole but could see nothing but black.

About halfway down the half, on the fourth or fifth door the door slid open before she even touched it. Sakura peaked her head inside and found she could see everything clearly within the room. An open window let in soft, blue moonlight and let a nice breeze circulate clean air. She breathed deeply, no dust to make her sneeze or get into her eyes.

She looked around. It was a bedroom. A queen size bed with red sheets pushed sideways against the far wall. A black dresser next to it. A small sitting chair and table were placed delicately in the center of the room atop a rich Persian carpet. Piles of books, as tall as her, surrounded the chair and stacked atop the table.

She picked one up, the words on the binder to worn to read. She leafed through the pages and found it was an old book on human anatomy, hand drawn pictures littering the papers. As she read deeper into the book she found little black notes written in the margins. Notes that contradicted a specific passage in the chapter or paragraph. Stating clear reasons why or reasoning why it was wrong.

Sakura hurriedly closed the book. The notes, they sounded like they were written by a mad man. They talked about experiments done to humans. Sakura turned to leave and out of the corner of her eye she saw an old lamp.

Curious she looked closer. It was like the oil lamps she found around the house. It was newer, still old but not as old as everything else in the house. She picked it up. It was heavy and the bottom came off. She pulled out a large battery.

She pushed the battery back in and turned the lamp on. The sudden bright light blinded her. When her eyes adjusted to the light she picked up the lamp and walked out of the room. She figured she could explore better with the light.

A cold breeze slithered across her skin and she ran to the dresser, opening all of the drawers. They were all empty but for the bottom drawer. Sakura pulled out a clean black shirt and black sweat pants, both brand new.

"The price tags are still on them." Sakura noticed and examined the paper tags. The clothes were from her favorite store. She looked around more and on the bed she found a pile of pictures. All of the school she went to, and at the very bottom of the pile was a picture of her.

She remembered the day the picture was taken. It was two weeks ago when she was eating ice cream with her friends, she had spilled chocolate ice cream on her shirt but didn't notice until she got home. She could see the brown splotch on her white shirt clearly in the picture.

Sakura dropped the lamp and ran from the room. The hallway had chanced, the walls were tighter, the ceiling lower. Her leg buckled under her and she fell forward. A cloud of dust sent flying around her. She scrambled to her feet and lurched to the side. Her ankle burning with pain, she couldn't put any pressure on it without sending a wave of searing pain up her leg.

And on the ground, where the dust was cleared, the dark red splashes of red was visible. She backed against the wall.

"It's just my blood, my ankles bleeding, remember silly. This... this isn't happening. It's a dream. It _has_ to be a dream."

"Dose it?"

Her breath caught in her throat, her heart drummed against her chest.

"It's a dream" She told herself firmly. "It's only a dream. It's only a dream!"

A man, no older than twenty walked in front of her, his red hair visible in the darkness. She wished she could disappear. That she would wake up. She pressed herself harder against the wall, her fingers fumbling around. She wanted something, a weapon, anything.

He turned and right away his eyes locked with hers. His hand gravitated to her face and she couldn't back away from it. Gently, with on the slightest of pressure, his hand stroked her face.

"Beautiful." He whispered. "As soft as I imagined and more."

"Who-who are you..."

"I think you already know my dear Sakura." He said charmingly, his mouth drawing out her name. She screamed and fell to the ground, crawling down the hall, desperate to get away from him. She went no furtherer then a few feet when he grabbed her shoulders, holding her firmly in place.

She screamed and kicked, clawing at his hands. He picked her up, and carried her down the hall and into the last room.

"My game can't continue any more." He told her, setting her down on a soft twin size bed. Sakura recognized the room, it was hers. The room was exactly like hers. "Modern technology is impressive but it doesn't help me. I can't survive on superstition anymore. In these days, if someone goes missing, a huge fuss goes up about them. It used to be, someone would go missing and everyone would take them as dead or lost to monsters and demons."

He sighed deeply, "So I decided to for one last game, but not just any game. I want this last game to be special. I left this house, that has been for so long my safe heaven and searched for the person who would be my last work of art. I choose you Sakura. You're tomboyish but still very pretty, and very smart. I didn't want to pick an idiot. There's no fun in playing with someone who couldn't get past my traps. And I didn't want some weak human who would give up, unwilling to play my game. So rest for now Sakura, and be everything I expect you to be and more. For tomorrow, we play."

He pattered her head and walked out of the room, the door shut and a lock clicked into place. Sakura trembled in her bed, tears pouring from her eyes.

* * *

Tally Mai-chan's thoughts: Wow I stink at writing horror. I tried and this is my best attempt. I mean, I think it's a little scary, more suspenseful than anything else. I like the story and I might write more for it but I doubt it.

I really wouldn't mind someone picking up this story. I ask of it really.

* * *

**Kagome**

Ten years old, and no friends. Sakura didn't mind. At least, she tried to think that she didn't mind. None of the other kids played with her. She didn't want to play with them anyways. Another thing she tried to tell herself. It was hard being an adult, but she couldn't be a kid or a teen so what else could she be?

Kids played with other kids. She had no other kids to play with. Teens argued with their parents. She had no parents to argue with. Adults were mature and didn't need to play. So she could be an adult.

Sakura sat alone in the empty lot. Lots of kids would play here but today they had left to explore the woods behind the school. So she could come here without fear and pretend at being a kid. Adults liked to pretend too right? Her aunt pretended to like her. To love her.

Sakura decided to play the game she always saw the other kids play. They would put someone in the middle and that kid would close their eyes. Then the other kids would run around them in a circle, holding each other's hands. They would stop and the kid in the middle had to guess who was behind them. They had three chances to guess or they lost.

Sakura sat cross legged on the ground and pretended to be the one on the middle. She pretended to hear the kids laugh as they ran around her. They would stop and she tried to guess who was behind her.

"Are you Maru?" She asked.

No, no! The children laughed.

"Are you... Tsuki?"

Not even close!

"Are you... Rukia?"

"No. I'm Sasori."

Sakura screamed and ran. She looked back and saw a boy with red hair. But being young and careless she didn't think to watch for rocks and tripped. Her knee and legs scrapping across the rock

He ran up beside her and looked at her knee. "Not too bad..." He mumbled. She bit back her tears. Adults didn't cry. They only cried when someone died.

"Who are you." The boy asked her quietly, staring at her with big brown eyes.

"Sakura... I ain't seen you around here. Where you from?"

Sasori smiled and helped Sakura back to her feet. "I just moved here." He said. "I'm from Tokyo. The countryside is all new to me..."

"I-I think it's pretty fun... so long as you got friends to play with."

"What about you?"

Sakura felt relaxed around Sasori, and adults were open with other adults they were comfortable with. But if he was a kid and she an adult then she shouldn't be open with him. Adults lied to kids to make them feel better. She didn't want to lie to Sasori though. He was the only kid her age to talk to her. Maybe he was an adult too.

"I don't have any. They never play with me."

"I'll play with you." Sasori said quickly, looking quite upset. "No one should have to play by themselves!"

Sakura didn't know what to say. What would an adult do? Would an adult politely refuse? Or say that they should have lunch sometime? Sakura didn't know what an adult would do but she knew what a kid would do.

"Let's play together!"

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Tally Mai-chan's thoughts. Omg this is such a cute story. A little bit sad but really cute! A really nice beginning to any story I'd say. It pulls the reader in and leaves open many questions.

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**The Valkyrie**

Sasori felt death. It was painful, the two swords that pierced his heart. He couldn't see anything, he couldn't hear anything, and he felt so much pain. His heart was stabbed, he was dead, but if he was dead then how could he still be feeling?

The thought that pain crossed over into the afterlife crossed his mind and the thought of feeling this pain for the rest of eternity nearly drove him mad. How long has it been since he had died? There was nothing to tell the passage of time, and his body, he felt his body.

Sasori had no limbs to move but he could feel his body. He knew where his fingers were, his toes, he knew what direction his head was facing, straight forward.

Ahead of him a small light, far off in the distance shone. He squinted his eyes, for he could feel them, and stared through the light. Slowly the light came closer. He could make out earth and trees at the center of the light. It was like looking through a divine picture frame.

And as the light grew he realized that it wasn't far off, coming closer to him. It was right in front of him, it just looked far off and away. The light grew in a perfect ring and inside was the Akatsuki lair, destroyed in his fight against his grandmother.

He moved his hand through the ring and could feel the thin barrier between him and the outside. His fingers pressed against the invisible barrier and when they passed through his hands because visible. Next his arm passed then his head, and torso and legs then his feet.

He was outside, gone from the black hole. He saw his grandmother, far away from him, talking to the Konoha ninjas.

_'They can't see me.'_ He noticed right away, the one Konoha ninja faced his direction, all he had to do was look up just slightly and Sasori would be right within his sight, _'Why?'_ He asked next.

His answer was right behind him. Sasori saw all the ninja, including his grandmother look at him, no, they looked past him. Sasori turned and saw his body, hunched over, lifeless, two swords stuck out from his chest.

Sasori griped his own heart, his fingers felt its gentle beat. When he looked back the Konoha ninja and his grandmother were gone. He sat by his body for hours, watching as Zetsu and some man in a mask came and examined his body. The masked man took Sasori's ring and Sasori would have been angry but he was too confused to feel any emotion.

It wasn't until early evening did anything of true importance happen to Sasori.

Dark clouds gathered above him, thunder rolling and blue lightning flashing. A high nihney, like the cry of a war horse boomed across the sky. He watched in awe as the cloud split evenly in two, forking at the top and then like the zipper on a jacket each side sliding away from each other smoothly.

A warrior, long pink hair flying out behind her like a billowing cape and dressed in golden armor, rode on a winged horse of pure white, its muscles flexing with each beat of its wings, each gallop. Thunder roared with each down beat of soft feather and the warrior swung her lance and lighting jumped off its tip.

She clung tightly to the horse, the beasts wings smoothing out into a glide as she circled around him. He knew when her green eyes found him. The horse dived to him. He panicked, the beast large and suddenly before him. The horse's head flung back and released a long neigh, its wings beat rapidly against the air, its thick body vertical to the ground. It's hind legs touched ground and it fell forward with a mighty thud.

Sasori's breath released and the horse, it's velvet nose brushing against his face, gently tapped him. His hand automatically petting it. The horse's eyes glazed over in a dreamy trance and so he became relaxed in its presence.

"There would be none of that." The warrior said sharply, leaning forward to look over the horses neck. She smiled, softening her face. "I don't want him turning into a big softie."

"Who are you." Said Sasori. The horse nudged his hand off him and turned to the side, letting its master speak properly to him.

"I am a Valkyrie."

"A what?"

"A Valkyrie! Honestly, it's all because you humans went and started worshiping buddha. Forgetting the gods..."

"I'm not following any of this." Sasori said quickly.

"To put it simply-for I can not give you an entire lesson on history- you are a great warrior. And when great warriors like you die their souls and minds return to earth to be "picked up" by Valkyries like me."

Sasori was incredulous, "My soul was saved because I was a great warrior?"

"Come." She stuck her hand out, shaking it for him to take. "I'll explain on the way to Odin's Hall."

He stared at her hand for several long moments, but, thinking he had nothing to lose he grabbed it and she hoisted him onto the back of the horse. It felt awkward for there was no saddle to sit on, only the bare back of the horse.

"To Odin's Hall!" She shouted, the horse rearing on it's hind legs. Sasori grabbed the girl's shoulders, fearful of being thrown off and onto the ground and when the horse was horizontal again he found that he didn't need to worry about the ground. By then the ground was very, very far away.

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Tally Mai-chan's thoughts: Yet another story that I really like. Three guesses to what song I was listening to when I wrote this. Go on. Guess.

Whoot. Fourth chapter of SasorixSakura! I never really thought I would get this far, but there will be an end. For only 6 chapters remain.

Well I guess theres no much left to say but to remind everyone that these stories are up for adoption! Anyone and everyone is welcome to adopt a wonderful story. This is fanfiction for everyone to benefit from. **And dont forget to review!**

Tally Mai-chan was here.


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